An Acomb Paedophile from York, Edward Blacklock, has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for engaging in online sexual conversations with an individual he believed to be a 12-year-old girl and for downloading and distributing Category A indecent photos of minors.
Edward Blacklock, 34, from Acomb, was apprehended by an undercover police officer masquerading as a minor online.
Upon his arrest, he was discovered to possess a reprehensible assortment of photographs and movies depicting children, including very young ones, as presented before York Crown Court.
The court was informed that those photos had been amassed over a decade to satisfy Edward Blacklock’s “addiction” to observing unlawful content.
Prosecutor Jillian Newton stated that the undercover cop established a fictitious social media account on the KIK messaging platform in April 2023.
Edward Blacklock engaged in conversation with her over several days that month, revealing that he was 32 years of age. She informed him that she was 12 years old.
During a two-week interval leading up to May 11 of that year, Edward Blacklock sexualised the discussions and prompted the ‘girl’ to engage in an indecent act on herself, instructing her on the actions to take and the methods to employ.
He subsequently transmitted an image of his genitalia and expressed his want to “see her.”
Edward Blacklock was apprehended on September 5, 2023, subsequent to law enforcement identifying his IP address. During a search of his residence, authorities confiscated an iPhone, a laptop, and two external storage devices.
The forensic examination of the devices uncovered a reprehensible assortment of explicit photos, including films of youngsters as young as three years old.
Ms. Newton stated that there was a “significant number” of young victims portrayed in the distressing sequences.
The inappropriate photographs comprised several classified as category A, the most egregious type of such content. Officers additionally discovered Category A videos.
It was also revealed that Edward Blacklock engaged in immoral internet discussions with other minors, however he was not charged with any charges pertaining to these interactions.
Ms. Newton stated that Edward Blacklock had been “communicating with numerous individuals under 18 via KIK for an extended duration.”
Edward Blacklock, residing on Severus Street, faced charges for seven crimes, including attempting to entice a kid under 13 to participate in sexual conduct, attempting sexual communication with a child, creating and distributing indecent photos of children, and possessing banned images of minors.
The communication offences were charged as attempts because he was in fact chatting to an adult decoy.
Edward Blacklock admitted the offences and appeared for sentence on Tuesday (August 12).
Prosecuting barrister Ms Newton said Edward Blacklock had a “collection of moving images and was active in sharing indecent images of children”, namely two Category C photos, with like-minded individuals.
Edward Blacklock was jailed for two years and 11 months.
He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject to a 10-year sexual-harm prevention order to curb his online activities.
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